Studying in Berlin can be a life-changing event given its multicultural environment, universities, monuments and political status. Berlin is a dynamic, active and large city. The German capital is home to some of the most impactful events in human history and on every corner, you will find a memory of all that. It is full of light, art, and students from all over the world.

The popularity of Berlin among youngsters comes with its hurdles, that is finding quality accommodation. Here are some key points to take into consideration when searching for your new home.

Bullet's point for finding your ideal accommodation

Start searching early: Finding accommodation in a new city can be a headache even for digital nomads, so for you first-timers, it can a whole different story. Berlin’s rental market is highly competitive, just like you, thousands of other students are also in need of accommodation in Berlin. Therefore, you cannot waste time, start searching as soon as you know Berlin is where you want to be. Browse and compare all the options early on, you will have more options to choose from than waiting until the last minute.

Accommodation location: The most certain thing about your life in Berlin is that you will be commuting to your faculty at least 5 times a week. The accommodation you decide must have a great connection to your faculty. You don’t want to live 2 hours away from your faculty. You can quickly check on maps how far the place you are looking is from your faculty and which means of transport you have available.

Beware of frauds: The most common phrase you will read about avoiding housing frauds is this “if it is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true”, which means that it is probably a fraudulent ad.

Avoiding housing fraud in Berlin

Unrealistic bargains

Let’s dig deeper into this. A 70m2 flat in the centre of Berlin for €450 sounds like an incredible bargain. This is what we mean by “too good to be true”, when an offer looks outstandingly too good. You previously saw the benchmark for the average rent in Berlin, use that to cast out these bargains that are likely to be frauds. Keep an eye for such options. Finding affordable accommodation is possible, but for accommodation like that, you will have to pay way more.

Prepayment

Right after contacting the landlord, they ask you to send them a deposit and an additional month's rent to secure the accommodation for you via Western Union or direct transfer to their bank account. When they ask you for prepayment of the accommodation to their direct bank account without seeing the place personally, you should be skeptical about this.

Don’t send your ID or Passport directly to anybody

Although, landlords need some documents to identify you and ensure you can pay for the accommodation. It is advisable not to send documents directly to anyone, some scammers will ask for a lot of personal information and documents regarding ID cards, passports, wage slips of guarantors etc. With this information, they can commit identity fraud, which will lead you to legal hurdles.

How to search for your ideal accommodation

With all that information about frauds, you might be wondering what the right way is to find and secure your accommodation. If you are lucky enough to book accommodation with the university’s public residence, you will have this problem solved. However, there are few of these, and they tend to run out quickly. To get a hold of public residents, you must seek them early.

If you are like the other 80% who have to find accommodation on their own, don’t be afraid, there are great options to help you secure your housing. One of them is private student residences and the other option is online booking platforms similar to Airbnb but for mid to long-term accommodation.

Luckily, these online booking platforms have emerged to personally verify accommodations for you, providing videos of the places and the person who verifies them. They also do not transfer your rent and deposit to the landlord until 48 hours after you are in the flat.

Erasmus Play aggregates all verified student housing from online booking platforms, and student residences to coliving for you to browse, compare and choose the ideal one for you.

We hope that these tips help you conquer your house hunt in Berlin. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us.

We wish you a great stay.

_{(courtesy of Erasmus Play, accommodation partner of FUB)}